Conventionally in photofinishing, a multiple print service is provided to consumers when they drop their film rolls for processing at a photofinishing service provider. The advantage to consumer is that they can obtain two copies of the same picture at a much reduced cost, and more conveniently, than by ordering reprints later on. Reprints require more (usually manual) processing, so multiple print service is advantageous to both consumers and the photofinishing service providers.
A potential drawback with the conventional multiple print service is that, in general, not all the pictures in a film roll are worth having two prints. Many images may not have been properly exposed, composed, or timed.
Many pictures can be improved by applying a certain amount of cropping so that the main subject is more emphasized and background clutter is removed. Even for those that were reasonably composed, a certain amount of cropping can offer a new perspective for the pictured scene or event.
One problem with the conventionally multiple print service is that both prints are identical. For sharing with friends and relatives, it is perfect. However, there is also need for generating “fun” and “trendy” looking pictures that may not be an exact capture of the original scene. Possibly, one might want to make the second, black and white print of a color first print. Perhaps a Sepia print would be desired as the second print. Neither of these processes would require scene content analysis.
There are other, perhaps more attractive ways of making the second print more interesting. For example, in the motion picture “Pleasantville”, there are scenes where the main people subjects are in color while the background is in black and white. Another example is simulated depth of the field, where the background is intentionally blurred to emphasize the foreground main subject. Such a modified print with one or more special effects applied, provided along with the original untouched print in a doubleprint set, can be of value to consumers. However, such a photofinishing service would be enabled only by means of an automatic way of segmenting the foreground main subject from the background. In addition, the results tend to be very sensitive to the correctness of the foreground/background segmentation if a binary mask is used.
The advent of digital imaging opened a new era in photofinishing. Within the wholesale and retail photofinishing industry, digital photofinishing began to take center stage. Films will be scanned so all the pictures are in digital format, opening doors for digital image processing and newer, better photofinishing services. One of such newer services is the doubleprint, which is essentially a multiple print with one of the prints having modifications according to subject content.
In the digital age, new ways of providing services emerge. Kiosk is a platform where consumers can bring old prints, film cartridges, memory cards or digital cameras as the source for making prints. Although in this case consumers have total control over what prints and how many prints to order (therefore do not have to stick to the paradigm of multiple prints), consumers surely can find the above mentioned modified prints valuable.
Internet ushered in yet another way of photofinishing. On-line picture fulfillment is the latest addition to photofinishing service family. Clearly, consumers have the flexibility to order all kinds of prints, including the above mentioned modified versions of the original pictures.
Furthermore, such modified pictures can be generated right within a digital camera once the requirements on memory and computing power are met by the camera design.
Therefore, there is a need for an automatic, error-tolerate way of producing modified prints based on subject content analysis.